A barbershop may not be the first place people think of as a source for books, but to Artika Tyner, an educator and civil rights attorney in St. Paul, Minn., it makes perfect sense.
“Black people create community wherever we are,” says Tyner, who partnered with Gideon’s Barber Shop owner Jacob Deisch to open Planting People Growing Justice Bookstore in Minneapolis. “There’s the economics of it—we’re able to do it on our own terms. People can come here for the full arts and culture experience, but also get the best haircut in Minneapolis.”
Tyner’s store is one of a handful of Black-owned bricks-and-mortar bookshops that have opened in the Twin Cities in the three-plus years since George Floyd’s murder, joining Babycake’s Book Stack, a mobile children’s bookstore launched in 2019. The shops vary in size and scope, but their missions align: each aims to provide a welcoming space for people to connect through books.
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